Electric insulator mounting clamp



Aug. 15, 1961 R. M. WILSON ELECTRIC INSULATOR MOUNTING CLAMP Filed May9, 1958 R m m V m ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,996,570 ELECTRICINSULATOlR MOUNTING CLAMP Robert M. Wilson, Battle Creek, Mich.,assignor to Dare Products Incorporated, Battle Creek, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Filed May 9, 1958, Ser. No. 734,361 4 Claims.(Cl. 1741'63) This invention relates generally to the construction ofelectric fences, and more specifically to a novel clamp for mountingelectric insulators on metal fence posts.

Electric fencing is becoming exceptionally common and this calls formeans to fasten electric insulators on posts of various types, and whichare generally of steel and of various cross-sections. At the presenttime there is no insulator fastener on the market which willsatisfactorily fit all styles of steel electric fence posts, and thosewhich are currently in use are subject to turning, sliding, and jigglingloose. It was a recognition of this problem and the lack of a thoroughlysatisfactory solution to same which led to the conception anddevelopment of the present invention.

Accordingly among the objects of the present invention has been theprovision of a new and improved clamp advantageously usable foreffectively mounting many kinds of insulators on any of the customarymetal post, whether these posts be mere rods, T-bars, angle bars, orchannel bars.

Another object has been to provide a novel clamp member cooperable witha combined clamping and insulator-carrying screw in gripping the postand having post-engaging teeth to prevent slipping out of place.

Still another object has been to provide a novel toothed clamp memberwhich can be inexpensively manufactured from sheet metal.

Still further objects and advantages of the present invention willappear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing and the followingdescription setting forth in detail certain means for carrying out theinvention, such means illustrating, however, but several of various waysin which the principle of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the novel clampmember of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top view, partly in section, showing the clamp member ofFIGURE 1 cooperatively related with an insulator-carrying screw andmounted on a rodtype electric fence post.

FIGURES 3, 4, and 5 are fragmentary top views showing the clamp mountedrespectively on T-bar, angle bar, and channel bar type electric fenceposts.

FIGURE 6 is a top view showing a construction in which the clampingscrew has an insulated eye interiorly protected with a metal grommet,said eye portion being usable as a handle when tightening said screw.

A preferred construction of the insulator mounting clamp has beendisclosed, and will be rather specifically described, but attention isinvited to the possibility of making variations within the spirit andscope of the invention as shown and hereinafter described.

A clamp member C is cooperable with a combined clamping andinsulator-carrying screw S, regardless of the common types of post P,FIGURES 2, 3, 4, and 5, to be used.

The clamp member C, FIGURE 1, includes a vertical base plate 10 fordisposition at one side of the post P, said plate having an opening 11through which to thread the screw S, the wall of said opening beingthreaded at 12 to engage the thread of said screw.

An upper hook member 13 and a lower hook member 13a are disposed at thepostfacing side of the plate 10 and are located in two substantiallyparallel horizontal planes. Each of these hook members 13 and 13acomprises one arm portion 14 integrally joined at its inner end to theplate 10 and a second arm portion 15 integral with and projectinglaterally from the outer end of said one arm portion 14. The second armportion 15 is disposed in opposed and spaced relation with thepost-facing side of the plate 10; and the inner edge of said second armportion 15 is provided with two teeth "16 projecting toward said plate10, to engage the side of the post remote from said plate 10 when thescrew S is tightened.

The opening 11 is so located as to dispose the screw S centrally betweenthe two horizontal planes in which the upper upper and lower hookmembers 13 and 13a are located; and said opening 11 is also so locatedas to position the axis of the screw S parallel to the planes of hookmembers 13 and 13a and in a third and vertical plane V which is at rightangles to said two planes and the plate 10, as shown in FIGURE 1. Thetwo teeth 16 of each hook member 13 and 13a are spaced aboutequidistantly on opposite sides of this plane V. Thus, when the screw Sis tightened, it has no tendency to cant the clamp member C about any ofthe teeth as pivots. In order that these teeth may better bite into andgrip the post, the toothed regions of the hook members 13 and 13a arepreferably hardened, or the entire clamp member C may be hardened, orthis clamp member can be constructed from sufficiently hard metal toaccomplish this end.

The two hook members 13 and 13a, FIGURE 1, are disposed at the upper andlower edges of the plate 10, respectively. The longest part of their armportions 14 is located so as to extend from one end 10a of said plate,and the inner ends 14a of said arm. portions 14 are shorter butgradually widen from said one end lilb of said plate 10 to the other endof said plate. These portions 14 and 14a form flanges which not onlystrengthen the hook members 13 and 13a but also longitudinally reinforcethe plate 10.

In FIGURES 2 to 5, inclusive, one of many common forms of porcelaininsulators is shown at I. The insulator is carried by the screw S andthe latter may have a wing nut W for clamping said insulator against theplate '10.

Common yieldable washers, not shown, may of course be interposed betweenthe insulator I and the elements 10 and W, if desired.

In FIGURE 6, the outer end of the screw S has an eye E and is coveredwith insulating material 1 The eye E fits in the outwardly openingchannel of a metal grommet G having a wire receiving throat T. No claimis made herein to this specific construction of an insulated eye armoredwith a grommet, since it is disclosed and claimed in my co-pending US.patent application, Serial No. 621,673, filed November 13, 1956, now US.Patent No. 2,931,853, granted April 5, 1960. However, when thisconstruction is associated with the clamp member C, the eye E andgrommet G form a convenient handle for tightening the screw S.

The clamp member C may be readily formed from sheet metal of suitablethickness and hardness. Quantity production, with speed and at low cost,is therefore made possible, supplying a requisite in the rather highlycompetitive field to which the invention. relates.

Attention is again invited to the possibility of making variationswithin the spirit and scope of the invention as shown and described. Itshould also be noted that directional terms such as horizontal,vertical, upper, and lower have been used to facilitate describing theinvention as shown in the drawing, and are not to be \J" considered aslimiting the invention, since the clamp can be used in various positionsdepending upon the requirements for mounting a Wire on the insulatorcarried by the clamp.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of those explained, change being made as regards the meansherein disclosed, provided those stated by any of the following claimsor their equivalents be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. An insulator mounting clamp comprising a plate for disposition at oneside of a supporting post so as to have a side facing said post, saidplate having at least two side edges at opposite sides of same with athreaded opening between them, two arm members which are in the form ofsidewise open substantially fiat-plane hook members extending outwardfrom said side edges in substantially parallel planes at substantiallyright angles to the plane of said plate and adapted to be hookedsidewise onto a supporting post, both of said hook members beingoutwardly disposed at the post-facing side of said plate, said hookmembers each comprising a portion integral with said plate andprojecting outward from same in varying amounts with the maximum beingfrom the same end of said post-facing side thereof, said post having aportion facing said plate and a portion facing away from said plate, asecond portion integral with and projecting laterally from the outer endof each of said first arm portions and in the respective planes of eachof same, said second portion of each of the first two portions of thehook members being substantially parallel to each other and disposed inopposed and substantially equally spaced apart relation with saidpost-facing side of said plate and each having a pair of symmetricallylocated post-engaging teeth projecting toward said plate to engage theside portion of the post which faces away from said plate,

and a combined clamping and insulator-carrying screw threaded throughand threadedly engaging the aforesaid opening of said plate for endcontact with the post on the side of same faced by said plate, saidopening in said plate being so located as to position said screwsubstantially centrally between the two substantially parallel planes inwhich said hook-ended arm members are disposed, said opening being alsoso located and centered with respect to the aforesaid pairs of teeth asto prohibit said screw from having a tendency to cant said plate aboutany of said teeth as said screw is tightened to clamp the post betweensaid teeth and screw.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; together with a nut threaded onsaid screw, said nut being in position to grip an insulator, whenthreadedly mounted on said screw, against said clamp on said post.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, in which the outer end of saidscrew has an insulated eye interiorly protected With a grommet, andwhich eye with its grommet facilitates hand turning of said screw foreither tightening or loosening same when mounted on a supporting post.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, the end of each of said armportions connected to the side edges of said plate forming a graduallywidening flange for plate reinforcing purposes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,637,654 Perez Aug. 2, 1927 1,794,976 Mueller Mar. 3, 1931 2,208,358Chandler July 16, 1940 2,437,344 Behlmann Mar. 9, 1948 2,562,562 ManasekJuly 31, 1951 2,593,130 Flynn Apr. 15, 1952 2,642,243 Kindorf June 16,1953

